Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 19h

At Richard Hawley on the Grand Pier in Weston-Super-Mare and 3 fire alarms into the support act the promoters might have just worked out that you can't pump a lot of dry ice into a building that spectacularly combusted a decade or so ago.

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 1d

Is he really this mad or is he playing to an audience that's mad? Also, now the world really, really needs those Humanities/ cultural history experts who can unpack what this means!

Michael Derby @michaelsderby.bsky.social · 1d

Conservative tech lord Thiel said tighter financial regulations “were a sign that a singular world government has begun to emerge that could be taken over by an Antichrist figure who could then use it to exert control over people.” Via WashPost

Inside billionaire Peter Thiel’s private lectures: Warnings of ‘the Antichrist’ and U.S. destruction

In leaked recordings of private lectures by tech billionaire Peter Thiel he argued that “the Antichrist” is likely to take the form of a critic of technology.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Giles Wilkes @gilesyb.bsky.social · 1d

"if anything employment outcomes are worsening more rapidly for those with fewer skills looking for blue-collar jobs than the highly skilled seeking knowledge work"

on.ft.com/43eYeRZ

@jburnmurdoch.ft.com as ever doing the essential work.

It's not just AI. And education still matters

What the graduate unemployment story gets wrong

People with a degree are faring better, not worse than their non-graduate counterparts

on.ft.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 1d

This is really worrying. They basically think that teachers of any subject can just do English from a PowerPoint. englishassociation.ac.uk/ea-response-...

EA response to loss of English teacher training bursaries | The English Association

We support the teaching, learning, and enjoyment of English at all levels of education, from early years to further and higher education and beyond.

englishassociation.ac.uk

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Alex Thomson @byebyepride.bsky.social · 2d

The shortage of English teachers has not been resolved - cuts in bursaries for trainees are a mistake, argues @sarahmullin.bsky.social @englishassociation.bsky.social

Tes magazine @tesmagazine.bsky.social · 3d

‘English is not just a subject – it is the foundation on which all other subjects are built’: @sarahmullin.bsky.social warns of the wider impact of withdrawing bursaries for teacher training in English

The end of English ITT bursaries sends a worrying message

The withdrawal of teacher training bursaries for English risks undermining more than just the subject itself – and it comes at a critical time, warns Sarah Mullin

www.tes.com

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The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 3d

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 4d

If it's true (and I doubt it) I'd love to see someone ask her some very, very sustained questions about a lot of these.

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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.bsky.social · 4d

And here we go. I never wrote this article, and yet it is cited here.

www.liberalbriefs.com/geopolitics/...

And of course, it sounds so plausible, I seriously checked whether I had forgotten it, or the footnote was slightly wrong.

#AIisnotresearch

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Caroline Dodds Pennock @carolinepennock.bsky.social · 4d

THIS THIS THIS THIS THIS.

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 4d

I agree with every word Zelda Williams says. And this at the end from OpenAI makes me want to go full Ned Ludd. Creators can’t have a blanket opt-out on copyright infringement of their work and have to fill out a form appealing to OpenAI’s mercy every time? Fuck off into the sun

OpenAI told the Guardian that content owners can flag copyright infringement using a “copyright disputes form” but that individual artists or studios cannot have a blanket opt-out. Varun Shetty, OpenAI’s head of media partnerships, said: “We’ll work with rights holders to block characters from Sora at their request and respond to takedown requests.”

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Jacob Aron @jjaron.bsky.social · 5d

Once again, this is not how copyright law works!

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 5d

OpenAI promises more ‘granular control’ to copyright owners after Sora 2 generates videos of popular characters www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

OpenAI promises more ‘granular control’ to copyright owners after Sora 2 generates videos of popular characters

Company behind the AI video app says it will work with rights holders to ‘block characters from Sora at their request’

www.theguardian.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 6d

This was fantastic! Really inspiring day...

Catherine Clarke @cathamclarke.bsky.social · 6d

I hugely enjoyed hosting a discussion with the brilliant @drlauravarnam.bsky.social & Caroline Bergvall today on creative engagement with #Chaucer and #medieval literature, including readings from their #poetry. Thank you @ies-sas.bsky.social & @englishassociation.bsky.social for an excellent day!

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 9d

What the actual fuck!

Jim Dickinson @jimdickinson.bsky.social · 9d

"International students left in limbo by UCL after university exceeds visa allocations"

International students left in limbo by UCL after university exceeds visa allocations

Hundreds of students accepted on courses facing costs and even deportation after being told to defer studies until 2026

bit.ly

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 11d

It's worse than that. It's that people (and particularly newspaper columnists) want their kids and grandkids to benefit but not other people's. Expansion for me but not for thee.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 11d

'University of Sussex leader Sasha Roseneil said she felt opposition to higher education was often grounded in an explicit rejection of the expansion of access that has taken place in recent decades.' 1/2

Universities victims of ‘relentless negativity campaign’

Sussex v-c says media attacks motivated by view that fewer people should obtain a degree

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12d

A functioning government would care.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 12d

'A steep decline in the number of Chinese students studying abroad is “highly likely” in the next decade but universities reliant on these enrolments for survival remain mostly oblivious to the scale of the coming challenge, experts have said.'

Collapse in Chinese student numbers ‘highly likely’ by 2040

Long-term trends including declining birth rate mean number of students looking to study abroad set to be much lower in only 10 years’ time

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12d

...started in academia. This is another national spare room database, I suspect; thought up in the back of a taxi without reference to external reality.

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12d

I'm hearing this announcement about ppl needing to show evidence of volunteering to qualify for ILR and thinking about the working hours and schedules of doctors still in training, the rotation system and the lack of stability that gives. Also look back at the 55+ hours p/w when I

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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 12d

Giving students thoughtful, personalized feedback and instruction is not a problem that originates from the difficulty for an instructor to generate feedback, it is a problem that originates from institutions pivoting to student:instructor ratios where that dynamic is not logistically feasible.

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Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 28d

👇💯

Blayne Haggart @bhaggart.bsky.social · 28d

This point hasn’t been given nearly enough attention. If you applied actually existing research principles to genAI, it would never be allowed anywhere near a university, research project or classroom.

Iris van Rooij 💭 @irisvanrooij.bsky.social · 28d

Loved how I got to clarify that the 5 principles in section 4 of the paper were nothing new. They came straight out of The Netherlands Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, that every scientists in The Netherlands already ought to know. All we did is apply them to AI. www.nwo.nl/en/netherlan...

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Toby Litt @tobylitt.bsky.social · 13d

We have our winning entry and runners up for the @unisouthampton.bsky.social Philip Hoare Prize for Non-Fiction -

Congratulations to Jupiter Jones.

philiphoarecompetition.co.uk/results/

Results

We are delighted to announce the winner and runners up for the first Philip Hoare Prize for Non-Fiction. Winner: ‘Hopeful Glimmer’ by Jupiter Jones. Jupiter Jones lives in Wales and wri…

philiphoarecompetition.co.uk

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12d

And in which he doesn't talk at all about that time they dumped enough poison to kill thousands in Salisbury.

Roland Smith @rolandmcs.bsky.social · 12d

In which James Delingpole tells us (in The Spectator) that Russia is great.

archive.ph/TE7YV

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 14d

Introduced to his work at Leeds. Time to re-read.

Kirkdale Bookshop @kirkdalebooks.bsky.social · 14d

RIP

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 14d

BBC Prom really bringing out the latent Bond theme in St Vincent's violent Times.

Reposted by Marianne O'Doherty

The Map Room @maproomblog.com · 14d

Geographical has an article about Oculus Mundi, the online home of the Sunderland Collection, a private collection of 13th- to 19th-century maps amassed over the years by its eponymous founder, Neil Sunderland, that sat in… More

Oculus Mundi

Geographical has an article about Oculus Mundi, the online home of the Sunderland Collection, a private collection of 13th- to 19th-century maps amassed over the years by its eponymous founder, Neil Sunderland, that sat in… More

www.maproomblog.com

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 15d

...to try again if the money runs out before the house sells. If she had an ID card it would be simple. In short, I do agree cards - well designed - could facilitate and simplify rather than block access to services.

Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 15d

It is frustrating to see the govt making ID cards about migration. We've just been trying to set up a deferred care payment scheme for a 94 yo without a passport or driving licence who has never had a household bill in her name. It was such a nightmare that we gave up - though we will likely have...

Lewis Goodall @lewisgoodall.com · 15d

Today’s digital ID announcement yet another example of how X being the main platform for political discourse will inevitably throw the MSM’s coverage off course, because online right opinion is fevered/way off the beat with the public.

Guess who need digital/reliable ID most? Those in poverty.

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